Content area
Full text
Exotic flavors and nutritional dishes help pan-Asian concept reach a wider audience
Chin's Asia Fresh may not be the fastest-growing player in the hot Asian fast-casual niche, but its creators are positioning it be a solid, long-term contender.
The contemporary pan-Asian concept, which parent company Leeann Chin Inc. of Bloomington, Minn., debuted a little more than two years ago, has opened six company-owned units in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Growth in the near-term will continue to focus on the area surrounding the company's headquarters.
"We will build out the Minneapolis market, and then we will grow quicker," says Steve Finn, chairman and chief executive.
Finn expects the chain will total 40 or 50 units within the next four years and gradually will expand outward from its home base, especially to the east. "We like being companyowned," he says. "It creates slower growth initially, but it gives you more control."
Noting that there are many "different roads to success," Finn adds: "We felt this was the one for us. Investors have offered to put more in to grow faster, but we're comfortable with opening five or six a year."
For the time being, the primary growth concept for the 24-year-old company is the 28-unit, quick-service Leeann Chin chain. Leeann Chin operates 20 units in upscale grocery chains in Minnesota and Wisconsin and two upscale buffet restaurants featuring Cantonese and Szechuan dishes and contemporary decor accented with a unique collection of valuable Chinese artifacts.
Founder Leeann Chin, who began her culinary career by teaching Chinese cooking classes to newfound friends after raising five children in her adopted country in the Twin Cities, retired three years ago. Her name first became known in 1980 when General Mills published "Betty Crocker's Chinese cookbook, Recipes by Leeann Chin." She opened her first Chinese buffet restaurant that same year.
Four years later she debuted her first carryout unit in Dayton's Department Store in Minneapolis. In 1985 she sold her growing restaurant company to General Mills. However, not satisfied with its unsuccessful attempts to grow the company, she bought back the concept three years later and began to spearhead her own growth campaign.
The company's longevity bodes well for the future of...